Chapter One
In 2012, I took some time off from work to self-publish my book. I spent all the savings I had at the time, around $7000 to print the books on my own and spent several months trying to sell all of those books. Before I could print them, as I had very limited budget in my pocket, I designed the book cover on my own.
It was not perfect. But at least, I had my very first book with my name on it. I was twenty-five years old and involved in my first independent project: to get the books out on the market and share my works with my friends, family and strangers.
I was at a crucial moment in my career. I had just graduated from college a year earlier, and I left IBM to pursue my dreams. After I had printed those books, I had very little money left in the bank and I did not know whether my books would be a huge waste of time and money or a success. Either way, I had to find out.
I survived the next eight months as a writer. I had sold more than 2, 500 copies of my first book. And in that same year, I had completed and self-published another book, the Empress, which I was only able to sell around 500 copies.
To some, those numbers are not really impressive. But to me, it is an indication that 3, 000 people are willing to part with their hard-earned money to get a copy of my book.
Toward the end of the 8th month, I got a job as an IT executive in another company. I made the decision to find a job because I needed some space to think about my next projects. But I was still focused. The end game was to become a writer and to earn a living by writing. To me, that was the dream job (even today).
I wanted to do something about it. But what?
My first thought was to continue with my self-published book projects. But after I had reviewed the first book, I decided that I needed to develop a richer backstory. Thus, I began working. I started by drawing the maps and other illustrations for the world of Narsilonia (of the book), writing the historical timeline when the world was first created until the day it ended, the history for each major and some minor characters in the book and also the language, cultures, beliefs and economic activities of the people.
But of course this arrangement would require some time. At the same time, I continued writing weekly articles on my blog. I began focusing on themes such as personal development and entrepreneurship. I had even launched my third book, the Little Book of Better Days in November of 2014.
I felt excited and energized by writing. It has always been my dream to become a writer and I knew, the moment when I had declared my intention to the world (to be a writer) with the publication of my first book, the journey would not be easy.
But that’s OK. Nothing’s worth doing is easy. That’s why writing is my dream burger. I am willing to go through the hard times because that’s the burger I have always wanted.
What’s your dream burger?